At one point he seemed a shoo-in to get the England job but was forced to salvage his career at QPR after getting sacked at White Hart Lane

Never told: Redknapp was never given a reason for his White Hart Lane dismissal (Photo: Bryn Lennon)

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One minute Harry Redknapp thought he had two jobs, the next he had none.

After a turbulent seven months in which he endured a heart operation, stood trial on tax evasion charges and lost a one-horse race to be appointed England manager, Redknapp insists he has never been told why Tottenham sacked him in the summer of 2012.

The previous year, ’Arry had led them to the Champions League quarter-finals, and 12 months later they finished fourth in the Premier League again, only for Chelsea to burgle the European Cup in Munich and deny Spurs another chance to visit European’s top table.

Tomorrow, Redknapp goes back to White Hart Lane for the first time since Spurs shafted their longest-serving manager since Keith ­Burkinshaw, insisting: “I have no enemies at Tottenham.”

The nation’s favourite Cockney sparrow may have salvaged his career at QPR , but he remains none the wiser about his exit at the Lane.

“Nobody has ever told me why Tottenham let me go,” said the 67-year-old Duke of Poplar. “I know the reason, but I don’t want to repeat it. Whether it was the chairman Daniel Levy or whoever, they made the decision and we live with it.

“I didn’t go home, turn the lights off and stay in bed all day. I got up and went to play golf. When you wake up and the doctor says you’ve got cancer, then you’ve got something to worry about, but I had a great time at Tottenham and life goes on.

(Photo: Getty)

“Of course it surprised me – I didn’t have an inkling it was coming. Three months earlier, there had been talk of a new three or four-year contract, so it was a big surprise.

“If Chelsea hadn’t won the ­Champions League that year, we would have qualified again, but we still finished fourth and we should have come third, but the West Brom keeper threw in three goals against Arsenal on the last day of the season – I’ve seen some bad goalkeeping performances but that takes some beating. Dear, oh Lord.

“Would I still be there if we had finished third in 2012? I don’t know, but one minute I have two jobs – the Tottenham job and the England job – and the next I haven’t got a job at all. Quite amazing, wasn’t it?

“Everyone said I took my eye off the ball at Tottenham because of all the talk about the England job, but that wasn’t the case at all. I had an awful lot going on in my life in those few months, so it was a difficult time.

“I don’t think it really changed me as a person. There are far worse things going on in the world, so losing my job at Tottenham is not the end of the world, is it?

“I was disappointed, obviously, but I thought, ‘If I have to play golf every day for the rest of my life, that’s what I’ll do’... but then I did my knee and I couldn’t play golf either. It put the finishing touch to a bad year.”

Redknapp’s return to north London will be proof that directors have the shortest memories in football, if not selective amnesia.

(Photo: Julian Finney)

Spurs had taken two points from eight games when he took over from Juande Ramos in 2008, and he built their most stylish side in 20 years.

Andre Villas-Boas and, briefly, Tim Sherwood, never recaptured the swagger after Gareth Bale and Luka Modric defected to Real Madrid, but Spurs’ biggest loss since 2012 has been the old charmer himself.

Redknapp said: “They took Villas-Boas when I left – I thought that was going to be the answer for a few years, but they didn’t give him a lot of time, it didn’t work out great, did it?

“Then they gave Tim a go and I hope the lad in charge now (Mauricio Pochettino) does well for them. I like what I’ve seen of him, and I hope the club does well because I’ve got no enemies at Tottenham, none at all.”